The end is the beginning
by Destiny Dawn
Summary: The team defeated the Organization and now they get a new mission. Will the team survive in a pirate world with a new teammate? Read and find out!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, dear readers! I hope you'll enjoy, have fun while reading! :-)  
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It was a hot summer afternoon. The team had no missions for a long time now, they were really bored. Sophie was reading a book about her family, it contained some spells, which she tried out on Lok, who was hiding because of this somewhere in the house. Zhalia was laying on the couch, watching some boringly stupid cartoon, and Dante was in his training room learning some new moves. Suddenly Metz appeared on the big screen and Zhalia almost fell of the couch because of the surprise. Sophie laughed a bit, went to her and sat down beside her. The two girls became pretty good friends since their last fight with the Organization.

„Dante, Lok! Metz is here! "Zhalia yelled to the boys. Dante came to the living room. He had black tracking pants and a white T-shirt on himself, and he was totally soaked in sweat. He threw himself on the couch too. Lok came from upstairs, looking around, trying to figure out if it is another trick of Sophie's. When he figured that it's safe to come out he went in front of the big screen too. Metz smiled.  
„Hello everyone! I called you to say that I have a mission for you. "He announced. Now Dante stood up.  
„What is the mission about? "He asked curiously and opened up his holotome so he could receive the card about the mission as usually.  
„You have to find an amulet. It was the amulet of the famous Black Beard." He explained. „The only clue that I can give you is that in a riddle there is a line about it: ' You'll find it where the sun sets.' And another thing what we know for sure is that it is around Italy, somewhere in the sea. "He explained this too.  
„So, we have no exact location? "Dante asked with a bit worry in his voice, Metz shook his head.  
„No, I'm afraid that this is all we have about the amulet. So, will you take the mission? "He asked with hope in his voice. Dante looked at the others, and then nodded.  
„We had tougher missions too, this will be a piece of cake. " He smiled, but so did Metz.  
„Thank you, and good luck seekers! "With that the screen went blank. A card appeared above the holotome, Dante took it and read it again, and then he looked at his teammates again.  
"Seekers, we got a mission! "He announced happily. Quickly they packed their things what they needed and they met back at their airplane in 30 minutes.  
"So, I believe we should try to find some clues at the shore. "Dante concluded. "But where exactly?" he asked with a little worry in his face.  
"How did that riddle go?" Lok asked, obviously he had an idea.  
" 'You'll find it where the sun sets.' "He repeated his mentor's words. Lok thought about for a second.  
"So, where the Sun sets. Where could that be? Dante, is somewhere near here a place that's called Sun?" he asked him with a little spark in his eyes. Everyone knew that Lok loved riddles, puzzles and these kinds of things.  
"No, not that I know of." He shrugged a bit. Lok thought some more, then suddenly the sparks became firework "I know!" he yelled "Where the Sun sets, it must be west!" he announced.  
"At least it's not that far from here. It will be a huge area to search through, but it's worth a try, this is our best clue this far. Good job, Lok!" he smiled at the boy, who was extremely happy that he solved another riddle. They boarded on to the airplane and took away to the western shore of Italy.  
Meanwhile Tori Rodwen, a 19 year old college student had a huge fight with her step parents about her wanting to be more independent. She had a place where she would go in times like this, so she climbed out her window and ran away to the coast. She loved to watch the sunset there, she felt peaceful, and near the water she felt this weird feeling. She felt like no-one can harm her, that she's stronger than anyone else. She had to walk for some time because she lived in the inner part of Genova, so she needed some time till she got to the shore. The place she loved so much was near the airport. She used to go there even as a kid, she would put on her headphones, turn off the world around herself and watch the water and the metal birds above it. Now she did the same; when she climbed out the window and with a nice jump landed on the ground she put on the headphones, let the music play on maximum and she simply started to walk. After a time she reached the coast. She sat down and relaxed. Her black hair got a purplish glow on the sun, her dark-brown eye shined with an orange glow and her pale skin got a brownish color. It was almost like on the sun she became a total different person. She was sitting on the ground for some time, beside the water. Now she got a bit bored, she took off her black tank top and her black baggy jeans, so she was now in her black bathing suit. There was no-one on the coast except her so she didn't have to be shy. She slowly walked into the water and enjoyed its calming power, she swum farther away from the coastline. The sun was already setting now. She totally relaxed and was watching the beauty what was in front of her now. The sun was huge, and the colors which were now playing together on the sky were simply breathtaking. She was delighted by the sight. Suddenly she felt an urge to look in the water. When she went under water she opened her eyes. Her eyes were already used to the salty water so they didn't hurt because of it. As the setting sun's light broke through the water a little thing shined not too deep in the water. When Tori dived deeper she saw that the shiny thing is an amulet, for the first sight it looked like gold, it was really big, and it looked like a pirate coin. She also noticed that it's in an old shipwreck, not the one from the pirate's time, but it wasn't new either. She reached for it and when she did a huge creature appeared from nowhere. It looked like a huge statue which was moving. She grabbed quickly the coin and swam as fast as she could. What she didn't realize was that when she touched the coin a weird blue aura appeared around her and the amulet too.  
Meanwhile the team got to the nearest airport to the western shore, which was in Genova. They got out of the plain and formed a little circle.  
"Does anyone have an idea where should we go next?" he asked from his team.  
"Well, definitely to the shore. Maybe we should ask someone where the best view is at sunset." Zhalia said, then thought some more. "Maybe the sunset doesn't only give us a clue about the place where we should look, maybe it has something to do with revealing the amulet."  
"Good thinking Zhalia." He smiled at her. "Sophie, would you and find someone to ask about the sunset?" Sophie nodded and in a second disappeared. Dante looked around. He saw which way they have to start.  
"That part there" Sophie came back after a couple of minutes and showed at the part which was not so distant from the airport "gives the best view on the sunset. There is no road to that part of the coast. We'll have to go by foot. "She finished her sentence. Dante nodded.  
"It's not so far, we can get there in ca. 15 minutes." He concluded. Soon they started to walk. Sophie and Lok were going next to each other; they were messing around and having fun, while Zhalia and Dante were walking behind them. They were waling next to each other too, but they didn't speak at all, they were silent. Since when Dante almost died in that battle with the Organization they didn't speak much. When they finally got to the shore all they found there was clothes someone left there.  
"Someone is probably in the water, so we can't use our titans" Sophie said while looking around in hope she'll catch the person who left its clothes here.  
"Where could we find a tiny amulet in an area which is this big?" Lok whined a bit while showing and the long coastline, trying to dramatize a bit. When Sophie heard him she laughed a bit.  
"Oh, come on Lucky Lok" she giggled a bit "We'll find it, you'll see." She poked his side a bit.  
"Um, guys… I think I already found it" Zhalia said quietly as she watched a person with blue aura come out of the water. The others looked at the person too. They didn't know it, but it was Tori. As she came out to the shore the aura disappeared. She looked at the strangers which were staring at her and almost blushed a bit.  
"Um… what? You didn't see people in swimming suits till now?" she asked sarcastically. That was her automatic defense since her childhood. Although she had step parents they never really watched over her or took care of her, so she grew up at other kids; mostly they were on the streets, and there the only way to survive is to be rude, possessive and ready to fight. She walked to her clothes and without drying herself she put them back on.  
"Won't you get a cold like this?" Lok asked from her a bit worried. Tori smirked a bit.  
"Don't you worry about me, little boy, I can take care of myself, but thanks." She smiled a bit. Lok was obviously hurt when she said 'little boy'.  
"It was nice meeting you people, but now I got to go. I can't show my body for free all night long, can I?" she laughed a bit at her own joke. Now was the moment when the team realized that the sun went down. It was dark now. Zhalia placed her hand on Tori's shoulder.  
"And where do you think you're going?" she asked on a polite voice from her, but she was ready to fight if it was necessary. Tori turned around and looked her in the eyes.  
"Look, I already told you I don't have time to waist, I have to go." She squeezed the amulet in her palm, Zhalia noticed that.  
"Ok, you can go, but first you have to give us what you found in the water." She pointed at the golden coin which was in Tori's hand.  
"Go and find yourself another. I had to swim like an idiot from that gigantic statue-like shit in the water. I am not giving this to anybody." She announced with a stubborn attitude. Zhalia looked at Dante, obviously asking for some help. Dante walked to them and stood beside Zhalia.  
"Look, we don't want any trouble, just hand over the amulet, we don't want to hurt you, and if this goes on like this we might fight you." He said on a calmed voice. Tori only shook her head. She hanged the amulet around her neck and took on a fighting position.  
"Bring it on then." She smirked. Zhalia lost her temper and she attacked. Dante moved away, letting her to take care of this little rebel girl. Lok and Sophie also backed away from the two girls. Zhalia wanted to punch Tori in the face, but Tori caught her by the wrist, twisted her arm behind her back and pushed her away. Zhalia almost lost her balance, but she managed to stay on her feet.  
"Nice move, kid." She admitted.  
"I'm not a kid." Tori returned with some anger in her voice. Now she was the one who attacked. She started to run in Zhalia's direction, with a swift move she jumped in the air. She wanted to kick her, but Zhalia fended this attack off perfectly. Tori fell down landing on all four. She stood up quickly.  
"Well you're not so bad yourself!" She admitted to Zhalia, she smiled.  
"I know." With that she attacked again. With a quick kick she kicked her in the stomach, which caused her to fly a feet or two back. Tori landed with a backflip on her feet.  
"This is not leading anywhere, she's not as good as Zhaal, but I have to say she has skills." Sophie whispered to Lok while they were watching the two girls fight.  
Tori charged into another attack. She jumped at Zhalia, but she moved away, catching Tori easily like this and throwing her on the ground. When Tori was on the ground she pushed her down, but made her face her.  
"So, will you hand now the amulet?" Zhalia asked from her with a tiny smile on her face. Tori shook her head.  
"Ok then, I'll have to take it myself." Zhalia reached towards the necklace when the object shot a blue beam towards her. She flew a feet or two in the air because of the hit. Tori Sat up.  
"Huh, it seems like I have a guardian. Finally, it was the final time for it." She smirked.  
When Zhalia fell on the ground she jumped up quickly.  
"How did you do that? You just found the amulet, and as I see you're not a seeker!" she asked a bit confused. Dante wanted to ask the same questions, but Zhalia was quicker. He just looked at the strange girl with demand in his eyes.  
"I have no idea, it just happened." She shrugged casually. Maybe from the outside she was all cool and calm, but from the inside she was as curious as the seekers in front of her. Zhalia looked at Dante with a questioning look.  
"Maybe we should take her with us." Dante suggested. Sophie and Lok finally reached them, so they heard the question.  
"Why not?" Lok looked at the grownups "We could use someone new in the foundation. We're running short on seekers anyways. Maybe if she gets lucky she'll even stay one" Sophie looked at Tori, who didn't understand a word from what these four were saying. Finally, Dante turned back to her.  
"We need you to come with us for some time to Venice, we'll explain to you everything on the move."

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**So, did you like it? Did you hate it? Leave a review and I'll try to work on it ^^  
****xoxo, yours faithfully  
DD**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 2, hope you'll enjoy! ^^ **

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"Excuse me, what?" Tori looked at Dante with a look that told the rest of the group that she thinks that they're insane.  
"Are you kidding me? I don't even know you! From what I know you could be dealers who want to sell my body to other disgusting pigs, who will later sell my organs!" she said to them, still not believing that they want her to go with them. Zhalia smirked.  
"Um, sorry, but it's not our fault that your P.I.M.P. sells your body to pigs who are disgusting, so please, get over it and stop with the drama." Tori opened her mouth to say something, but then she closed it. She looked at Zhalia with a killer look, who only smirked again, turned away and started to walk back to the airplane.  
"I'll be at the airport waiting for you. You have exactly one hour to pack your things and come to meet us, if you won't show up believe me, you'll regret it." She yelled back to Tori over her shoulder and smiled in a wicked way at her. Tori wanted to say something again, but she didn't. Actually she would probably like Zhalia if they didn't start out the way they did, she reminded her of herself. Dante looked after Zhalia, then he looked at the two teens.  
"Lok, Sophie, escort… uh…" he looked at Tori; he realized they didn't even know her name, but neither did she know theirs. Now apology was visible in his eyes.  
"I'm sorry, what's your name?" he asked a bit ashamed, knowing that they are taking her away from her home without any information about her. Tori smiled at him in a cocky way.  
"Tori Rodwen, the one and only.* she said with some pride in her voice. Dante nodded.  
"Nice to meet you, Tori Rodwen. The girl who just almost killed you is the always happy Zhalia Moon, the two teens are Sophie Casterwill, the smart and Lok Lambert, the shy, but also smart." He laughed a bit. Lok blushed at what his mentor said.  
"I'm not shy at all!" he tried to protest, but the light red color on his cheeks said it otherwise. Tori laughed a bit. Dante looked after Zhalia again.  
"Guys, escort Tori to her house and help her pack her things." He said to the teens, then turned around and hurried after Zhalia. When he reached her he placed his hand on her shoulder. She turned around.  
"Yes, Dante?" she asked him on a nice and gentle voice. He smiled a bit at her.  
"You know, we didn't have the chance to talk since the… when I… when we defeated the Organization." What he said wasn't true. They had plenty of chances, but he missed them all, because he was a bit afraid to bring that theme up. Zhalia knew this as well, but she said nothing about it.  
"Well, what do you want to talk about?" she returned the smile. Dante took a deep breath. 'Now or never' he thought for himself.  
"Well, you know when you thought I died… You started to…" he closed his eyes at the memory. Zhalia wanted to erase that memory of hers, so she decided not to let him talk about that. She was really ashamed that she let her wall fall like that and that she showed her emotions.  
"It was only because I was tired, and under a lot of stress…" she said quickly. "It was really nothing." she lied. It was really a lot for her. She had feelings for Dante, but she didn't want to admit it. She thought that having feelings towards someone is a weakness. Dante nodded, feeling disappointed. He looked away into the night, while Zhalia kept on walking. He really liked her, and he didn't want to give up just like that. He ran after her again.  
"And what about that moment when we almost kissed?" he asked with a little hope in his voice.  
"That was my cover, I had to get close to you." She lied again. Now Dante felt like someone smacked him with something hard in his head. He stood silent and kept on walking by her, but now in complete silence. Zhalia felt really bad about what she just did to him, but in her opinion this was the right thing to do.  
Meanwhile Sophie, Lok and Tori were walking towards the other end of the city, to get Tori's things.  
"So, Tori, what do you think, how will your parents react?" Sophie tried to start a conversation.  
"I don't have parents, I have step parents." She answered shortly. Sophie flinched a bit, but kept on walking.  
"Oh, sorry…" she apologized.  
"Don't be, I know I'm not. My real parents left me at the hospital's doors, they didn't give a shit about me, so…" she shrugged casually.  
"So, are your step parents nice to you?" Lok asked, seeing that Sophie's out of questions, or she's afraid to ask something from her about her past that could bring back some bad memories.  
"They aren't so bad, but they don't give a shit about me either. You'll see, they won't be interested in where I'm going, or why… But it's not a biggy, I'm already used to it." She said in a calm way, but when she noticed that these two are a bit upset about it, she smiled. "Oh, come on, it's not that big drama, at least they'll be happy even when I'm gone." She poked the two teens a bit on their shoulder, trying to cheer them, but she didn't succeed.  
"So, you have no family at all?" Lok asked with a little sadness in his voice. Des smiled a bit, although it looked like a bitter smile. She decided to change the theme.  
"So, where are we going anyways?" she asked a bit curiously. Lok and Sophie looked at each other, understanding that she doesn't want to talk about it and accepting her wish.  
"We're going to Venice… well, it's our first destination, that's for sure" Sophie said with a little smile.  
"Our first destination? Why, how many of them will be there?" Tori asked a bit surprised.  
"Many" Lok answered on a low voice, with a mysterious little smile, and then he imitated a horror movie laugh. Des gave him a look then rolled her eyes "Children."  
Soon they reached her house, her step parents weren't at home. She showed the way to her room. The room was small; it had a simple bed, a smaller wardrobe and a night-table, nothing more. The walls were full with metal/rock posters.  
"Wow, I see you're a true 'Metal head'" Lok said as he was looking around in her room.  
"You have something against it?" she asked while she was packing her clothes, shoes and some other things in her bag.  
"Nope, not a thing" Lok answered quickly, before she would bite his head off. She turned around with a grin on her face "Good."  
Soon she was done with the packing, so they took off to the airport. When they got there Zhalia and Dante were waiting for them in the airplane. The three of them got in too.  
"Wow, fancy…" Tori said with some amazement in her voice. She went to a seat and sat down in it.  
"Are you ready?" Dante asked from her with a little smile.  
"I think I am, but honestly, I have no fucking idea what am I doing here with you on this airplane." She shook her head. What she said was really true. She didn't know why she decided to come with them. She didn't even know if this is a good idea, but she needed something new, she needed changes, so she guessed this is what she needs right now. Zhalia appeared from nowhere too.  
"Buckle up, you stepped in something what won't be easy. You'll have to learn much." She said while a little smile was tingling on her lips. This girl who was sitting in that seat reminded her too much of herself, except for the swearing. "Oh, and you better learn not to swear. After all, you're a lady." With that she disappeared again.  
Soon the plane took off to Venice. Dante and Zhalia were in the cockpit, Lok was sleeping, Sophie was reading something and Tori was staring out the window and listening to music. She took off her headphones.  
"Hey, um… Sophie, right?" she asked the girl who was sitting not far from her. She looked at her and smiled a bit.  
"Yes, Sophie. Do you need something?" she asked in a kind way. Tori nodded a bit.  
"I have a question. Will the travelling always be this boring?" she asked and laughed a bit. She didn't need anything, she just needed someone to talk to, and the only person around was Sophie, who was laughing at the moment at Tori's question.  
"Oh, you silly… It's not boring at all… Take a book and read!" she took a book from her backpack and offered to her. Tori looked at the book and then at her.  
"Um, thanks… but I'll better pass this." With that she turned around. "Nerd." She whispered. She took her earphones and put it back on; she was listening to music on full volume. She soon fell asleep.  
After an hour of flying they got back to Venice. Tori felt a light tapping on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked at the person, it was Lok.  
"Oh, I fell asleep." She looked around. "Did we arrive?" She looked at the boy standing next to her.  
"Yup, we did." He smiled a bit. "Come on, we have to get to the HQ in time." He started to walk. Tori slowly got up and stretched a bit.  
"Hey, wait!" she yelled after him. "What the Hell is the HQ? Is that a club?" she ran after him. When she got off the plain everyone was already there. Lok started to laugh at her question.  
"No, the HQ stands for the headquarters. "He explained to her.  
"Oh… now I get it." She smiled in a goofy way.  
Soon they were on move and in front of the HQ. When they went in Tori couldn't believe her eyes. She just found out about seekers, and now she was in a seeker HQ.  
When they reached Metz's office Dante stopped.  
"All of you, wait here." With that he went it. Some talking was audible, but Tori couldn't understand what they were saying. The only thing she could say for sure was that she heard three male voices. After a shorter time Dante opened the door.  
"Tori, please, come in." he said on a low voice. The girl nodded and went in. Dante was standing by the door, like a guard who will stop the prisoner from running away. Another two strange were in the room too. She looked at them. One was a bit stronger, he had blond hair. The other was strong too, but not as the blond one, and this one had black hair. Now Dante walked beside her.  
"Tori these are my really good friends. Metz" he pointed at the one with the black hair "And Guggenheim" now he pointed at the blond one. "They are bosses here, so behave." He whispered as he went back to his place, beside the door. Tori looked at the strangers again.  
"Good evening." She said politely and smiled.  
"Good evening." The two men said in the same voice. Des had to fight back a laughter.  
"So, what brings you to us?" Guggenheim asked from her with a strong German accent. Of course he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from her.  
"I found a titan, sir, and I refused to give it to your team, so they brought me here." She replied politely again. She knew how to behave when she had to, and this was kind of fun for her.  
"And why did you refuse to give it to my team?" Guggenheim asked her again.  
"I don't know, sir. Maybe because I have a policy, what I find stays mine, no matter what." She said proudly. Dante coughed a bit, giving her a sign that she shouldn't be so cocky. She looked at him, raised an eyebrow and nodded lightly. She turned back to the other two and smiled a bit again.  
"Interesting." Guggenheim said. He looked at Metz. "Do you have anything to ask or say?" he asked the man with the dark hair. He nodded.  
"Do you want to become a part of the Huntik foundation?" he asked with a little smile on his face. He seemed nicer than the other one.  
"Yes sir, I would like that. At least I think so." Dante made a face, Guggenheim looked back at her.  
"You only think so?" the blond one asked again. "How's that so?" Tori had to fight herself so she wouldn't roll her eyes.  
"You know sir, I found out about all this only this morning. I had to swim like an idiot so a giant statue wouldn't kill me, I had to fight one of your seekers, then I had to fly from Genova, which is by the way on the other side of the country, to Venice, and then I have to answer these stupid questions." She finished with a smile. She now realized that she did a stupid thing, but it was too late to take back what she said.  
"So, you think that our questions are stupid?* Guggenheim looked at Metz, who was, it seemed, enjoying in this situation.  
"Um, only yours, sir." She answered with a smile again, than she bit her tongue, which was always faster than her mind. Now Metz was clearly smiling. Guggenheim gave him a killing look, then turned around and walked to a bookshelf, waiting for the other to go after him.  
"Would you, dear, be so kind and wait outside? We have to discuss your situation." He smiled at her. Tori nodded with a smile, and went out, No-one was in front of the office, and so she sat down on the flour and waited.  
Almost an hour passed when Dante finally opened the door. Tori stood up, went into the office and stood in front on the desk, facing the two grownup strangers. There was silence for a minute, everyone was tense.  
"We decided." Guggenheim said with a bit angry voice and eve thicker German accent.

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**So, what do you think? Is it good? Is it bad? Will Tori become a seeker? I'm waiting for your reviews! **  
**xoxo, DD**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello readers! It took me pretty long to finally write this new chapter, and I apologize for that, I hope you'll forgive me! ^^ **  
**P.S: A reader was a bit confused about what Zhalia told Dante in the second chapter about almost kissing him. My respond on your comment, dear reader, is that everything has a reason. You'll find your answer in this chapter :) xx **  
**I wish you an enjoyable time while reading! **

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Tori looked at him in a serious way.  
"I'm listening" Guggenheim almost exploded, but he managed to keep the anger inside of him.  
"You'll stay in Dante's team for now, but only because of one reason." He said on a strict voice.  
"And what's that reason?" She asked after a couple of seconds of silence. She was excited and happy that she could be a part of a new team. She could kick ass with good reasons, get some new friends and have some fun, but of course she didn't show that she's excited.  
"The reason is that your amulet is protecting you. That kind of thing is really rare, so we think it has a meaning, it was meant for you to find it. I don't know what is so special about you, but faith obviously wants you to have this amulet." He said in a neutral way. He wasn't happy about the decision, but he couldn't do anything against it. The amulet was bonded to Tori in more than one way. Tori almost started to laugh.  
"If you say so…" She shrugged a bit. "So, how long will I be in this team of yours?" she asked calmly, what made Guggenheim's blood pressure jump into the high sky.  
"How can you be so immature about this? This team of ours?" he asked angrily. Metz smiled a bit and tapped his friend on his back.  
"Dear friend, it's time for your tea, I believe." He said in a calm way. Guggenheim looked at him with a killer look, but nodded and in a second he stormed out of the office. Metz now looked at the young girl.  
"Excuse him, he had a rough week." He laughed a bit "Your question was, I believe, how long will you stay in this team, right?" Tori nodded "Well, it all depends on you. You'll have to study really hard; you'll have trainings on a daily basis, one in the morning and one in the afternoon." He explained, Tori nodded again.  
"And where will I live?" she asked a bit confused.  
"We'll find you a nice little place, that's the least we can do for you after dragging you away from your home town." Metz smiled at her. Tori smiled back at him.  
"Thank you sir"  
"You're very welcome." He nodded "Until we find you an apartment you'll stay at Dante's house with Zhalia and Dante. You'll be able to move out from there tomorrow, I believe, or after tomorrow. I'll try to find you the place as fast as I can" he promised. Tori nodded and looked at Dante.  
"Can we go? I'll drop dead if my head won't find a pillow soon." She made a face. Dante and Metz laughed a bit and Dante nodded.  
"Sure, we don't want the noob to die, do we?" he laughed some more. Tori only rolled her eyes and looked back at Metz.  
"Thank you one more time, good night!" with that she went out of the office and went on the street. Suddenly Zhalia appeared beside her again. Tori jumped a bit but calmed in a second.  
"You know normal people walk casually on the street, they don't jump out of the shadows." She complained a bit, Zhalia smirked.  
"First thing, I didn't jump, second thing, I'm way past normal." she winked at her, Tori laughed a bit.  
"Good news, you and your sweetheart will have some company tonight and maybe even tomorrow." She said with an evil little smile on her face, Zhalia swallowed hard.  
"He's not my… sweetheart." She said on a low voice with some sadness.  
"Oh… then why are you staying at his place?" she asked curiously.  
"Because my previous apartment was a total wrack."  
"I'm just hoping I'll get a nicer one." She made a little face. "Anyways, how's that so that a hunk like him and a cutie like you aren't together?" she smirked a bi.  
"Long story, won't talk about it." Zhalia answered shortly and looked away. In that moment Dante walked out of the HQ too.  
"Oh… Zhalia, hello…" he said with some pain in his voice. He was still hurt after the things that happened on the shore. In the airplane he thought that moment through a thousand times. He realized that she lied to him when she said that she was still undercover, he was blaming himself for not realizing that sooner. At the moment he thought that he's such a fool for believing her that, but he also realized that she lied with a reason, so he decided not to bring that subject up for a longer time now, he thought that that would be the best for both of them now.  
Zhalia nodded in response "Hello Dante" she smiled a bit. Tori looked at them and she didn't know what to do. She cleared her throat.  
"Guys, I need sleep, like right now!" she whined a bit. Zhalia rolled her eyes but laughed a bit.  
"Ok, let's go." She said shortly and started to walk. Dante and Tori went after her.  
In a shorter time they got to a huge house. Zhalia went to the door and unlocked it. Tori was staring at the house, then looked at Dante.  
"Are you rich or something?" she asked a bit amazed.  
"Well, let's just say that I don't come cheap." He smirked a bit and went into the house as well. Tori was still standing there with her bags and staring.  
"Earth calling Tori Rodwen!" Zhalia yelled "Tori Rodwen, answer!" Tori looked at her a bit confused, but then she started to laugh. She went into the house as well. She looked around and smiled.  
"Um, guys, would you mind if I would throw you out and take over this place?" she giggled a bit. Dante came to the living room.  
"Well… yeah, pretty much." He smiled a bit. Tori laughed again.  
"So, would anyone be so kind and show me my room?" she smirked a bit.  
"Oh, yeah, sure." Dante nodded. He led Tori to a room on the firs flour. He opened the door and smiled. "Here you go, your room." Tori went in and looked around. It had a huge bed, a bigger wardrobe, a desk, a smaller coffee table with two chairs, and a huge TV in it. She threw her bags on the floor and jumped on the bed while laughing.  
"Wow, thanks man!" she cheered, Dante laughed a bit.  
"You're welcome. Now go take a shower and go to sleep, tomorrow you're getting up early so you could train." With that he closed the door and went to his room. He took a shower and he lay down. He couldn't fall asleep so he was staring at the ceiling. Tori took her bags and placed it beside the wall. She went into her bathroom and took a long, hot and nice shower. When she was done she fell on the bed and she immediately fell asleep. Zhalia did the same; she was so tired that when she placed her head on the pillow she fell asleep.  
The next morning someone was knocking really hard on Tori's door. She opened her eyes, barely, took her cellphone and checked the time, it was 5 a.m.  
"Oh gods up above and down under grant me patience, because if you grant me strength I'll kill the unfortunate person in front of my doors." She growled a bit and slowly got up. The knocking went on. "I'm coming, I'm coming, chill it!" she yelled. She finally got to the door and opened it. Dante was standing there with a huge grin on his face.  
"Training time!"  
"What?" she asked a bit confused. "What training?" she looked at him, then it hit her, she wasn't at home, she was in Venice, she had a mentor and she had trainings. "Oh, that… Do you know what time it is?" she whined a bit.  
"5 a.m." he answered happily.  
"How much coffee did you drink?" she asked with suspicion and she raised an eyebrow.  
"Um, two… I think…" he shrugged a bit "You have half an hour to get ready and be in the training room!" with that he ran downstairs. Tori looked after him and shook her head.  
"And people think I'm the weird one…" with that she closed the door and went to her bag. She took black sweatpants, a black tank top and a black sweatshirt over that. She took her red chucks, tied her hair into a pony tail and went downstairs.  
"Great that he told me where his training room is." She muttered to herself. She was wondering around, and after some time she finally found it and she went in. Dante was already waiting for her there. He was doing pushups. When he saw Tori he jumped up.  
"You're late! You'll have to run 5 extra circles around the house!" he said with a grin on his face. Tori looked at the clock which was hanging on the wall.  
"But I'm late only a minute!" she whined, Dante nodded.  
"Yeah, if you would be late for 2 minutes you would run 10 extra circles!" he laughed a bit.  
"Man, you have a weird kind of humor. So, what is the basic number I have to run?"  
"10 circles." He grinned again.  
"15 circles? Are you out of your mind?" she whined.  
"Plus one…" he grinned again.  
"You cannot do this!" she whined even more.  
"One more… Are you sure you want to go on?" he laughed a bit, obviously enjoying this.  
"Ok, ok, I'm going." With that she went outside and started to run. After the 6th circle she was almost dead, but she had to go on, because Dante was sitting in the door and counting. When she was done with the running she collapsed on the grass and didn't move. She was breathing heavily. She heard footsteps but she was too tired to raise her head and check who that is. Suddenly Lok's figure appeared above her, he was laughing.  
"Dante, what did you do to the poor girl?!" he asked through laughter.  
"Me? I did nothing! She was late!" he yelled from the door while laughing a bit. Lok offered a hand to the girl and she accepted it. He pulled her up and smiled.  
"Thanks." She said and returned the smile.  
"No problem, believe me, I know how it is to be the new in the team." He smiled again "So, are you able to stand on your own legs?" she nodded "Ok, then let's go inside." She nodded again and they went inside the house. Dante went after them.  
"Ok, Tori, next task, sit ups" he grinned. She whined a bit, but nodded.  
"How many?" she asked with some hope that she won't have to do much.  
"I think twenty would be enough for today, we don't want your muscles to die." He smiled a bit, she nodded, lay down on the training room's floor and started to do the sit ups. Lok and Dante sat down beside the wall and they were chatting casually. When Tori finished with the sit ups she stood up and stretched a bit.  
"Fifteen pushups!" Dante yelled from beside the wall. She rolled her eyes, but did the pushups too, then she rolled on her back and was only staring in one point.  
"What's up, you're tired?" Lok asked while laughing a bit.  
"No, I'm just counting the stars on the ceiling." She answered with a little bit of sarcasm, he laughed even more now. Dante stood up and walked over to her, she looked at him with an annoyed look.  
"You just love to torture people, don't you?" he smirked a bit.  
"This isn't torturing, this is training, and we're far from its end" he smiled in an evil way, Tori only swallowed hard.  
"S… so what's, um, next?" she asked while standing up slowly.  
"Did you bring your titan with you?"  
"Excuse me, my what?" she asked a bit confused. It was still early in the morning, plus she still didn't know all the names like titans, seekers and similar things.  
"The amulet you found in the water, is it here with you?" he asked with a little smile on his face, Tori nodded.  
"Yeah, it's here. Why?" she asked a bit suspiciously.  
"You're going to call out your titan. A titan is an ancient and powerful being which was summoned from the spirit world of Huntik, and then it was locked in an amulet or ring. There are many kinds of titans. Give me your amulet, please" he reached out his hand. Tori looked at his hand and then she squeezed the amulet which was hanging around her neck. She shook her head. Dante rolled his eyes.  
"I'm not going to do anything with it, we'll just read it, that's all." He promised.  
"Read it? How can you read an amulet?" she asked curiously.  
"You can read it with a holotome." As he said that he went to a little desk and came back with a weird thing in his hand. "But for that I'll need your amulet." Tori shook her head again.  
"I said it already, I'm not giving my amulet to anyone." She sounded a bit angry, so Dante only nodded. He opened up the holotome and placed it on the floor.  
"Then you will hold it above it, come on." Tori sat down and looked at him.  
"And I just hold it above the little… whatever this is?"  
"Yeah, you just hold it above the holotome." He smiled and nodded. Tori took off the amulet and held it above it.  
"A bit lower." Tori raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. As she let the amulet a bit lower a green light hugged it around.  
"Now you can take it away." Tori nodded and put it back around her neck, under her shirt. In the green light a little figure appeared. It looked like a man, actually a pirate; the only difference was that it had four arms. In the upper arms he had guns, and the lower ones he had swords. Tori laughed a bit.  
"It looks funny!"  
"Well, you'll have to get used to it, it's your titan."  
"Oh…" she looked at the little figure again and made a face. "Can I get a girl titan?" she whined a bit, Dante looked at her a bit surprised. He raised his eyebrows and he didn't really know what to say.  
"What are you, nine?" he asked in disbelief.  
"Um, plus ten." She laughed a bit "But really, look at it, it's totally manly, I want a girly one!" she whined again. Lok sneaked up behind her and smacked her in the head. "Ouch! Why did I get that?!" she whined again. Lok rolled his eyes.  
"Ok, we have girls in our team, but not even Sophie is this whiney!" he laughed a bit, Dante laughed as well, Tori only stuck out her tongue. Suddenly a robotic voice started to talk.  
"Watercrusher: Attack: 2, Defense: 3, Type: Meso-Titan, Size: average, Special abilities: crushes enemy with water." After that the green light went off and Dante closed the holotome.  
"Wow, this was cool, although I didn't understand a word out of it" Tori laughed.  
"With time you'll learn it, anyways it's pretty impressive." Lok smiled, Dante nodded.  
"I have to agree with the boy here, it is impressive. And it's even more impressive how it protected you on the shore when Zhalia wanted to take it away from you, so now comes the interesting part; you're going to call your titan out." He grinned. He didn't know if she'll succeed, but he knew a lot of swearing is coming up. Tori stood up and took the amulet in her hand again.  
"This should be easy" she shrugged a bit "Come out." She said in a commanding voice. Nothing happened. She waited for a second, and then she repeated "Come out!" Dante and Lok were holding back the laughter which wanted to break out of them so badly. "Come out, come out, come out!" she whined a bit and shook the amulet. "Come out you little piece of shi-"Dante cut her off there in laughter.  
"You don't call a titan like that!" he was almost crying because of the laughing, but so did Lok, he was lying on the floor and holding his stomach.  
"Then explain me!" she said angrily. Dante calmed a bit, but he was still laughing a bit.  
"You calm yourself, you concentrate on the bond you have, and then you say its name, rub it three times and wait for it to appear." He was silent for a second, but then he started to laugh hard again. Lok was screaming on the floor. Tori looked at them with serious anger in her eyes. She squeezed the amulet which then started to glow blue.  
"Watercrusher, disrupt the waters!" she said loudly. A blue smoke appeared, it looked like some kind of mist, and a four armed pirate walked out of it. Tori almost dropped her amulet when the man appeared in front of her. It was tall and pretty strong. It was in pirate clothes, it had long black hair and beard. Dante and Lok looked at Tori with raised eyebrows.  
"Um, did I do that?" she asked in an innocent way with a goofy smile on her face.  
"Yes, you did. It seems like we can take you to the edge of your nerves pretty fast. We'll have to work on that too, remind me later." Dante smirked a bit. Suddenly the weather changed outside. Dark clouds rolled in and thunders started to play on the sky. Tori looked out the window and swallowed hard.  
"Now I hope I didn't cause that too." Dante and Lok looked outside too.  
"Oh, don't be silly, you can't cause weather changing with your titan." Lok said and laughed a bit, but when the windows slammed open and the chilly wind snuck in he got pale. Slowly mist started to rise and fill the room, and then out of the blue pirates appeared. They looked weird, gray, their faces emotionless, they looked tired.  
"Guys, am I the only one who can see the pirates?" she asked in a skeptical way and backed away, Lok was shaking his head madly.  
"Nope, I see them perfectly as well." Dante said on a calm voice. Tori and Lok looked at him and he really looked calm.  
"Dante, why are you calm?" Tori asked a bit scared.  
"Because we're not sure if they are enemies or allies. I won't nerve myself out if it's not needed." He smirked at the girl, who stuck her tongue out. Tori's titan slowly walked beside the girl, being partly in front of her so it could protect her. The pirates lined up in front of them and stared at them.  
"We came to talk to the lady." An old looking pirate told on a tired voice. Tori raised her eyebrows and chills ran down her spine.  
"M… M… Me?" she asked as she backed away some more.  
"Yes, milady." He bowed in front of her a bit.  
"W... Why?" she now took a step forward.  
"We have a message to you from your really far relative." He explained in a calm voice.  
"Oh… a far relative of mine is sending pirates to tell me something. Tell that relative of mine that next time a text message will do just fine." She said a bit annoyed "But let's hear the message." The pirate looked at her a bit confused.  
"What's a text message?" Tori looked at him also confused.  
"How do you mean that? You know, you send it from your cellphone? Text message? SMS?" she asked hoping he will get it. The pirate looked at her like she's insane, he wanted to tell something, but before he could Dante interrupted.  
"Sorry, but what's the message?" he asked curiously.  
"I'm talking only to the milady." He announced and growled a bit at Dante. Tori smirked and looked at him.  
"Here are your seventeen circles, twenty sit ups, and fifteen pushups, plus the mocking." She grinned. Dante rolled his eyes.  
"Ask him about the message, please." Tori smiled and nodded, then she looked back at the pirate.  
"So, um… I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name." she smiled at him politely.  
"My name is Fat Rat milady." He bowed a bit "And this behind me is my crew." He showed at the smaller mass behind him. Tori laughed a bit.  
"Fat Rat? More like Skinny Mouse!" she laughed again. Lok poked her between her ribs. She looked at him, and saw that he had the same pale color as moments ago. "Oh, come on Lok, cheer up! You don't get to see pirates every day!" she giggled and looked back at Fat Rat. "Yeah, so um, Fat Rat, what is the message?" she asked while still laughing a bit.  
"Black Beard sent us, he told us that once the heir evokes Watercrusher the run for the Fountain of youth starts once more. "He told with a wise tone. "He wanted to protect the fountain, but Red Beard got there first. All Black Beard could do was send him to the deepest point of the sea, where Red was waiting till this moment." The girl was staring at the pirate with disbelief in deaf silence for a moment and then she started to laugh.  
"I can't believe this! And what do you expect of me? I should gather my own crew, set sails and look for the legendary Fountain of youth?" she asked through laughter. "I mean, first I should believe in this story! But let's say I do, what then? Why won't the dearest Black Beard stop Red Beard? And what's up with the pirates and the beards?"  
"Black Beard died that day; we weren't able to save him. When he cast the spell on Red Beard he lost most of his life force, but with the tiny bit of what he had in himself he killed his crew so we could come back on this day and let you know what you have to do." He said in a sad way. Tori started to back away again.  
"S…so you're telling me that you're ghosts, and my distant relative, Black Beard wants me to fight a legendary pirate, who was sleeping for I don't know how long? Are you fucking kidding me?" she asked in disbelief "You know what? I'm out of here…" she shook her head and started to walk towards the door, but thick mist raised in front of it and a couple of pirates walked out of it, walking towards her, forcing her to go back to the place she was standing a moment ago. She looked angrily at Fat Rat. "Great, so you're not giving me a chance, huh?" The pirate shook his head.  
"I'm afraid I can't, milady. If you won't do what is needed Red Beard will reach the fountain again, drink from it, and the planet you know now won't exist anymore, it will be the Blue Planet. Water will rule, it will be everywhere you look." Tori rolled her eyes.  
"Yeah, yeah, end of the world talk, been there, heard thousand other versions." She said in an annoyed tone. The pirate shook his head.  
"Think what you want. You have to get to the Fountain till the next Full moon or everything is lost."  
"And how will I do that? If you can't see I'm not a thousand years old pirate! I don't know how to get there!" she raised her hands in the air, over dramatizing a bit.  
"You're just like Black Beard used to be, stubborn and demanding, but I know what I bothering thee, milady." He clapped his hands, and out of the blue a map appeared on the ground. "Here you go, now we must go, we'll meet again on the fields of battle." He bowed deeply and disappeared and the rest of the crew, the mist slowly faded and the clouds became white again. Tori looked out the window like she was mesmerized.  
"Guys, I think I'm moving to the nut house… "She said while still staring out the window.  
"Can I be your room mate?" Lok asked on a low voice. Dante looked at the two teens and laughed a bit then he took the map.  
"Come on guys, we have to find out everything we can about this map, and the thing the pirate just told us.  
"Um, what if I refuse to believe in what I just saw? I don't want to be Black Beards grand grand grand grand daughter!" she whined a bit and pouted. Lok rolled his eyes and smacked her again. "Ouch! You little bastard, you'll have to stop doing that or you'll live with no arms!" she threatened him, he only laughed.  
"Tori, do you want to run a couple of more miles?" Dante asked her on a strict voice, she sighed and shook her head. "Good, now call back your titan and we'll go and do some researching." The girl raised the amulet high and the titan disappeared. Tori flinched a bit, the amulet glowed blue for a second then the light disappeared. She took the amulet and hung it around her neck again. The three of them went to the living room.  
"Wait for me here, I have to make a couple of phone calls." With that Dante disappeared. Tori threw herself on the couch and was staring at the ceiling again. Lok sat down in the chair.  
"You know, before yesterday, if someone would say that today I'll be here in Venice, training to be a seeker, have my own titan and chatting with ghosts I would say that the person is psychotic and that it has to be locked up in a nut house." The girl sighed a bit. Lok nodded.  
"I understand how you feel; I dropped into this world without even knowing about it. I just accidentally touched the amulet my father left behind for me." He shrugged a bit. They were silent for some time when Sophie came through the entrance door.  
"Hello everyone!" she said on a happy voice, walked to them and sat down on a chair. Tori raised her hand, trying to wave, but she failed even in that, she was too tired at the moment for anything. Lok smiled widely as he saw Sophie.  
"Well hello there!" he winked at her, Sophie blushed a bit and giggled.  
"Did I miss anything?" she asked curiously.  
"Should I tell her or will you?" Lok asked while looking at Tori, who only raised a finger to point at him, and then she let it fall back on its previous place. Lok laughed at that and nodded. "Ok, so she was training, as you can see." he pointed at her. She was half hanging from the couch, Sophie laughed at that.  
"Yeah, it's pretty obvious. Dante's trainings can be pretty tough." She laughed. Tori now looked at her and raised an eyebrow.  
"No kidding! I though I'm laying here half dead because he was so gentle and caring!" she said sarcastically. Sophie rolled her eyes and looked back at Lok.  
"Anything else except the obvious?"  
"Yup, she called out her titan, Watercrusher, and she activated the world's end. It's kind of like we're sitting on a ticking bomb what will blow up any minute." He shrugged casually. Sophie raised an eyebrow.  
"Excuse me? The world's end? When did this happen?" she asked all confused.  
"While you were sleeping, like every normal person would." Tori said with an annoyed look on her face, then she looked at Lok. "When we're already mentioning normal people, why the Hell did you come here so early?"  
"I came this early because I have training too, but today Dante let me watch your training, he wanted company while laughing" he winked at her "And he also wanted me to see how I'm not allowed to train" he added with an evil smirk. Tori was ready to jump at him when Zhalia entered the room, suddenly all three of them became as silent as bugs. Tori sat up on the couch so Zhalia could sit down too.  
"Good morning." She greeted them silently as she nodded lightly at them.  
"Hey, good morning" the teens said in the same voice, Zhalia smirked a bit as she knew they respect her and they are a bit afraid to have an open fight in front of her. "So, I heard you had interesting visitors this morning. "She smiled a bit. Tori looked at her with a questioning look.  
"How do you know about that?" she asked a bit confused.  
"I talked to Dante." She answered casually.  
"Oh… yeah, it makes sense." Tori smiled in a goofy way. In that moment Dante appeared beside the couch and sat down on its arm, holding the map to the Fountain in his hands.  
"Aye mates, we'll play Pirate tag for a couple of days now. We have a mission!" he announced happily. Tori looked at him and saw that he means it. Everyone took the news well, but she had this weird feeling deep inside, she felt that something will go very wrong.

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**So, what do you think? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Which is your favorite part? I'm waiting for your reviews!  
****Love you lots, DD! xx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well hello everyone! Here's the brand new chapter of _The end is the beginning_! Yeah, I know, it took me a while till I was able to finish it, my muse left me for a couple of weeks, and I apologize in her name as well! (I'm not nuts, I swear! XD) Anyways, the main point is that the new chapter is here and I wish you a good reading! Enjoy! **

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After Dante announced that the team got a new mission they made up a plan. According to the map they'll have to visit seven places before they get to the cave with the Fountain of youth. On every destination there is a key to the next one. The first door will be open with the amulet of Watercrusher, and then they'll get the key and go on. On the last destination they'll hopefully get the key to the Fountain of youth. They'll have to travel with a private ship, because the places they have to find are sealed and protected with some kind of magic and they couldn't see them if they would go with a plain. They assumed the protection spells can be lifted with the amulet of Watercrusher. After they agreed on this plan Dante went to his office to call Metz and let him know about this. Zhalia and Sophie went to the training room to train a bit, Lok turned on the TV and started to watch a sitcom. Tori used to watch that too, but she wasn't in the mood at the moment so she just drifted off in her own thoughts. Her head was filled with the words the pirate said to her. She wasn't really the type of person who cares too much; if someone would say bad word to her she would probably attack, only to prove she's not a coward, and she would even die if needed. She never really cared about the consequences, but this sentence was like glued to her mind now. She knew this isn't the way she wants to die. No one would know how or why she died, she would just disappear without anyone noticing it. No one would miss her. There is a slight chance she wouldn't succeed and she would die without making a change, and then her team mates would die too, and the gods only know what else would happen after that. She was still deep in her thoughts when she noticed that someone is calling her name. She snapped out of her depressing thoughts and looked around; she noticed that Lok was looking at her with visible worry on his face.  
"Are you OK?" he asked with some concern in his voice, what was almost absolutely new to her. She had friends who would ask her from time to time how is she and what's new in her life, but in the moment she started to talk they would change the subject; they didn't care.  
"Yeah… thanks… Why?" she asked a bit confused.  
"Well, you look all pale and worried, like something is really bothering you…" he shook his head a bit and his blond strands jumped a bit from the motion.  
"No, it's nothing serious… really…" she forced a smile on her lips.  
"You know, you're not the first one who wants to lie to me." He smirked a bit, Tori smiled at that.  
"I never lie, I'm just not telling the truth." She laughed a bit.  
"Isn't that the same?" he asked with raised eyebrows, but still with the same smirk playing on his lips.  
"Nope, a lie is a lie, but when you're not telling the truth you're keeping it to yourself in order to save yourself from fuckingly stupid questions. You know how they say, it's easier to smile than to explain a thousand times why you're crying." She smiled a bit bitterly.  
"Well, if you say so…" he shrugged a bit. He was a bit sad that the girl doesn't want to open up, that she still thinks she's all by herself.  
"Look, I hope you know you're not alone anymore…" he made a bit longer pause here, then took a deep breath and went on "You're not alone, now you're a part of our family… If something is bothering you talk to us, we're here for you." He said silently and with a small smile. Tori was staring at the blond boy, not really knowing how to react. This situation was, again new for her. She had a so called family, but she was always on her own. When she needed something she had to turn to her so called friends, who often made fun of her and turned their back on her, so in the end she was on her own again. She always wanted a big brother or sister to who she could turn if she was in trouble or she had to share her problems, secrets or anything else. She felt a hand on her shoulder again and she snapped out of the deep thoughts about her past, she realized she was still staring at Lok. She also realized that two of her biggest wishes came true; she found herself a family, yeah, with some issues, but still… and she got a great brother who cares for her. She smiled at Lok in a kind way.  
"Thank you… It's noted." She hugged him quickly and jumped up "I better pack my things before we go for our new, mission, adventure, whatever it is you kids do all the time around here…" she smirked a bit and disappeared behind the door. Lok looked after her and shook his head with a smile.  
"It seems like we've got ourselves a second Zhalia." He smirked a bit, but then turned around quickly to see if the mentioned person is around; she never liked to be compared to other people.  
Meanwhile Tori got to her room. She went inside and locked the door behind herself. She threw herself on the bed and was staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything that happened in the last few hours. She was a bit exhausted, and the thought that another training is waiting for her in the afternoon made her even more tired. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. Soon she fell asleep.

xxx

Zhalia and Sophie were in the training room practicing some new moves. It was Zhalia's turn now and Sophie knew it. She smirked a bit as Zhalia was lifting her arm, in an attempt to hit her stomach.  
"So, Zhalia, what's up with you and your Italian lover boy?" she asked in a cheeky way. The blue haired girl swallowed hard and missed the punch, but her rage jumped from 5 to 500, that's for sure.  
She took a deep breath and sent a killer look in the Blondie's way.  
"What do you mean? I don't understand…" she put on a cold face and shook her head while going back to her previous, offensive position.  
"Well, you know…" Sophie said on an innocent voice, enjoying that she can mess with Zhalia's emotions and concentration "I'm a girl too, so I can read between the lines, plus I'm not blind!" she giggled a bit. Zhalia rolled her eyes.  
"I still don't know what you're talking about." She shrugged a bit. She crouched a bit and jumped in Sophie's way, knocking the Blondie over. Zhalia then jumped up and switched from an offensive to a defensive position, waiting for a new attack from the girl who was still lying on the floor and staring at her trainer.  
"Oh, I believe you do…" she smirked even more and jumped up with a swift move, facing the other girl now. Sophie tried to punch Zhalia in her shoulder, which would, according to her plans make her stumble and then Sophie would be able to knock her over easily, but Zhalia knew all of her moves and she blocked the attack, turning it in her own favor. She grabbed the blond girl's arm, twisted it behind her back and made her kneel down. After that she took a step back, giving the girl a chance to stand up and try to fight back. Sophie jumped up and narrowed her eyes.  
"You're pretty mean, you know that?" she asked on a bit raised voice. Her arm hurt from the previous attack, but if she learned something from Zhalia, then it was hiding your pain. Never show your opponent where it hurts, or you're in deep trouble.  
"Oh, look who's talking, little Ms. Smart ass." She said on a sarcastic tone "Come on, attack, I know you want revenge, even though you're the one who started it." She smirked a bit, changing the subject from Dante and herself to something entirely different.  
"A smart ass? Really? I expected something much ruder from the famous Zhalia Moody!" she said while trying to hide her anger. She knew she'll loose today, even though this was only a training "Doublespell, augerfrost, raypulse!" yelled Sophie while backing away from Zhalia, who was now on the ground. She made a face from the sudden pain in her body, but it faded quickly, so she jumped up.  
"So, we're on the level 'nasty' now, huh?" she smirked a bit and shrugged "Fine with me! Doublespell, touchram, raypulse!" she smiled in a satisfied way as the two beams hit the blond girl and she flew over the room, hitting the wall and falling on the floor on her knees. In that moment Dante walked in.  
"Whoa, what did she do?" he asked a bit stunned while looking at Sophie with a bit pity.  
"She nerved me out." Zhalia answered simply and calmly, not looking at him, but looking at anything else that could catch her eyes in the room.  
"Is that possible? I mean, to nerve out the ice cold Zhalia Moon?" he asked with a little laughter. Now Zhalia looked at him a bit annoyed, which was pretty hard, because all of a sudden she was in a cheeky mood.  
"Don't test me Dante; you know I could take you out within seconds." Dante raised his eyebrows.  
"You think?" he asked with a smirk playing on his lips. Meanwhile Sophie got up slowly and hobbled over to them.  
"You know Zhalia, this is only training, you don't have to beat the Hell out of me…" she whined a bit. Zhalia gave her an annoyed look and turned around to walk away but Dante caught her hand and pulled her back.  
"Sophie, why won't you rest a bit? Sit down and watch the pro's!" he smiled in a wicked way. Zhalia tried to protest but Dante shook his head "Nope, you're not gonna run away. Or… are you afraid you'll lose?" he asked in a cheeky way. Zhalia raised an eyebrow.  
"Please Dante, you're a male. Zhalia Moon never lost against a male…" she said in a bit cheeky way as well. Dante laughed at that, but didn't say anything. He walked to the center of the room and waited for his opponent.  
"Now this'll be interesting…" Sophie smirked big time. Zhalia narrowed her eyes while looking at her, but then took a deep breath and walked over to Dante.  
"You really don't know what you did, huh?" she shook her head with a tiny, almost invisible smile.  
"Nope, but if you're up to explaining… well, I'm listening." He smirked even more.  
"Watch and learn." Was her simple answer, and with that she attacked "Hyperstride!" she yelled and with that jumped in the air, did a flip in the air, and landed behind Dante, twisting his hands behind his back. Dante nodded.  
"Nice move, but still, you're up against the best seeker, did you forget?" the smirk was still visible on his lips. With a swift move he broke free from her tight grip "Spidertouch" he laughed a bit and pulled Zhalia close, the tips of their nose almost touching. He looked deep in her eyes. Sophie was watching them and there was a quiet "uuuuu" in the air from her, she was smiling like an idiot at the moment, enjoying how her mentors are in a tense position. For a moment she thought about leaving, but this was just too interesting for her. Zhalia was looking back at Dante, she was surprised by his move, but she smirked a bit.  
"No wonder your students won't play fair… I mean, look at their mentor."  
"I know, I'm handsome…" he grinned.  
"More like an egoist, but if you say so…" she smiled in an evil way "Touchram!" with that Dante flew away a couple of feet and landed on the floor, not far from the place where Sophie landed not so long ago.  
"You really love to do this, huh?" he asked while laughing a bit and holding his right side, on which he fell.  
"Love to do what?" she laughed as well.  
"Never mind, you wouldn't admit it anyways…" he smiled a bit. Zhalia was still laughing a bit.  
" still laughing a bit.  
"You know, I thought it would be harder to defeat the best seeker of the world." She said in a mocking way and turned around to go away.  
"Oh, wait missy, we're not done yet…" he said with an evil smile playing on his lips. He jumped up quickly and started to run towards her "Nimblefire." With that he was behind Zhalia in a second. He knocked her over so she was lying on the floor now, facing it. Dante was on her back with full weight.  
"Did you mention anything about defeating the best?" he asked while breathing heavily, his hot breath tickling her skin lightly, making her heart race.  
"Um… yes… no… What?" she laughed a bit, so she could hide her confusion at least a bit.  
"You have a worse memory than a gold fish!" he laughed a bit and placed a small kiss on her shoulder, then got up quickly and reached his hand to her to help her up. She looked at him with narrowed eyes and jumped up without any help. Her heart was still racing from the thought that he was lying on her just a moment ago, and the small kiss didn't ease the situation at all.  
"You know… Fishes aren't so bad… They are cute!" she didn't know any other respond, so she chose the worse, but it was already late to change that. Sophie laughed at that.  
"Oh Zhalia, I take back what I said about you, you're not Moody at all, you're not even bad ass anymore, you're a gold fish!" she laughed again. Zhalia sent her a killer look.  
"Sophie, I'll deal with you later, or Tori will, she's crazy enough to kill you." She smiled in a wicked way "Anyways, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and… and… and pack my things for the mission." She finished her sentence and rushed out of the training room. She went straight to her room, threw herself on the bed, buried her face in a pillow and screamed as loud as she could. 'Why is this happening to me?' she thought to herself. She turned on her laptop and played her favorite playlist. It was a mix of some soft tunes. She let the songs play on maximum volume, while she was sitting on the bed, staring out the window and watching the wind play with the beautiful green leaves on the trees. Her mind was full with thoughts about Dante and his actions 'Why is he doing this to me?' she thought again and she shook her head a bit.

xxx

Tori was fast asleep on her bed when suddenly a slight knocking woke her. She opened her eyes and whined a bit.  
"Is it a rule here that I'm not allowed to sleep normally?" she growled a bit and stood up. She walked to the door and opened it "Oh the surprise…" she muttered to Dante, who was standing outside her room and smiling kindly at her. She shuffled back to her bed and sat down on the edge "So, what's new with you? Why do you need me at this time? Is the fire on house?" she asked on a sleepy voice, Dante laughed at her.  
"Um, if you meant to ask if the house is on fire, then my answer is no, it's not on fire." He laughed again while Tori made a face.  
"Then why are you here?" she muttered silently, fighting the urge to fall on the bed and sleep again.  
"I just wanted to tell you that your training is up in an hour, and after that we'll set off to find the Fountain. From now on your daily training will be on the boat, so you'll have to be extra careful or you'll land in one of the oceans, which are pretty deep…" he smirked a bit.  
"I know how to swim, thank you for your concern, now bye!" she smiled in a sarcastic way and pointed at the door. Dante laughed at that.  
"Training in an hour, I suggest you to warm up before it, we can't lose time on trifles like this." With that he left the room. Tori fell back on the bed.  
"What time is it anyways?" she wondered out loud and she looked for her cellphone. She found it lying beside her on the bed. She checked the time, it was almost 5 p.m. "Fuuuuuck!" she whined "I slept over the whole day!" she hated that feeling. Usually when she was tired in the afternoon she went to take a power nap and she ended up sleeping till 3 a.m. She always felt bad after that because she felt so empty, like she wasted a whole day.  
She slowly stood up and started the warm up exercises. She was doing those for half an hour and then she went to the training room to jog a bit, and do the exercises she couldn't in her own room. Soon it was 6 p.m. Dante walked in the door exactly on time.  
"Man, are you from Switzerland or Germany, or something?" she asked with disbelief.  
"No why?" he asked a bit confused.  
"Well look at the clock!" she laughed a bit.  
"Oh, that… Well, you'll learn one day to get somewhere on time as well." He shrugged a bit with a smile "OK, so you warmed up?" Tori nodded at that "OK" he went on "So, we'll try to call Watercrusher out again, you'll try and command him, try to be its mistress." He explained. She was nodding while holding onto the amulet which was in her pocket.  
"Can I?" she asked a bit unsure, Dante nodded. She took out the amulet "Watercrusher, disturb the waters!" she commanded and her titan appeared beside her. Dante smiled.  
"OK, this went well." He nodded "The next task will be to attack Caliban" he pointed at the titan who was standing in the corner "with that glass of water." He finished his sentence while pointing at a glass which was on a table under the window. Tori nodded and hoped she won't screw this up.  
"Watercrusher, attack!" The titan obeyed and concentrated. The water started to rise from the glass and it formed into a ball. The ball became bigger and bigger. Caliban moved out of the corner, preparing to attack. Watercrusher noticed and considered it as some kind of danger, so he threw the ball at the opponent titan. Caliban cut the water ball in two pieces, so the water fell on the ground and created a puddle. Tori looked at her titan and raised her eyebrows.  
"Really? Is this your cutest trick or you have something even weaker in your pocket?" she asked a bit disappointed. The pirate shaped, four armed man smirked a bit and shook his head. Caliban didn't even notice that the puddle was moving after him, it was following him. When he stopped Watercrusher used the opportunity and made a water wall around his opponent. Caliban tried to get out of it, but the water wall around him got tighter and tighter, crushing his enemy.  
"Tori, it's enough, stop him…" Dante said a bit nervous, hating to see one of his best friend getting caught.  
"Watercrusher, stop!" she commanded, but the titan didn't obey his mistress this time "Watercrusher, I said stop!" she commanded again, but nothing. "Water fucking crusher, I command thee to stop!" she yelled on the top of her lungs. The mentioned titan looked at his mistress and the water wall fell, releasing Caliban. Dante called him back in his amulet and walked over to Tori.  
"Not bad, you just have to concentrate a bit more. Next time, just so you would be prepared, don't get all angry right away, and please don't swear, it's so ugly when a girl swears." He shook his head "Anyways, next time just take a deep breath and don't get carried away. Your titan can feed on your emotions, and the more you're angry the meaner it gets. Just take a deep breath and try to stay calm." He advised his student. Tori made a face but nodded. There was nothing harder for her than to stay calm, she had a really short temper.  
"OK, now we'll practice some fighting techniques with titans. Your Watercrusher against my Ariel." He called out another titan and soon a wooden elf appeared beside him.  
"Cool, one element against another. You know we could harm the balance here, right? I mean, really…" she rolled her eyes. Dante laughed at that.  
"Don't worry, nothing bad will happen. Come on, attack me." He grinned at her. Tori shrugged and a mean smirk appeared on her lips. Soon the four of them were battling madly in the training room.

xxx

An hour later Dante and Tori came out of the room and went to the living room where they collapsed. The girl on the sofa, the young man on the chair. Lok was still there, watching some series, and the fact that Tori almost fell on him and disturbed him watching the show which was on at the moment bothered him.  
"Well, excuse me miss, did I interrupt you in your falling? Oh, wait, it can't be, because you are the one who interrupted me in watching my show!" he whined a bit. Tori looked at him with raised eyebrows.  
"Hey, Surfer boy, if I'd have the energy I lost in the training room I'd kick your ass right away…" she said on a tired voice.  
"Huh, in that case I'm lucky, I guess…" he grinned and poked her belly. She winced a bit and hit his arm.  
"No touchy-touchy, or there'll be some killy-killy." She growled a bit, Lok laughed at that.  
"What kind of sorcery did you use on this poor girl? She has absolutely no energy!" Lok asked from Dante while still laughing. He looked at the young boy and shook his head lightly.  
"Sorcery? Are you insane? She was constantly hitting my head, I couldn't manage to say anything, it was absolutely impossible to give any commands!" he complained.  
"Well pardon me, Mr. oh so great at battling, if my memory serves right then you're the one who was trying to execute me with that elvish piece of titan!" she protested.  
"Execute you? That offense was meant for your titan, who by the way almost crushed Caliban! He absolutely deserved it!" Dante replied with some attitude, which sounded really funny, Tori couldn't help it so she started to laugh.  
"I swear Dante; sometimes I think you were meant to be born as a girl in a Ghetto!" Lok laughed pretty hard, Tori joined him, although she had to hold onto her stomach so she could ease the pain that way a bit.  
"Oh, Lok, my dear mate, you'll have your training soon as well…" Dante answered in a mysterious way with a dark laughter. Tori laughed even harder at that.  
"That's what you get when your mouth is huge!" she giggled a bit.  
"Oh, look who's talking!" Lok made a face and swallowed hard when he remembered that he's training with Dante as well.  
"Shut up Surfer boy!" she smirked a bit.  
"It's easy for Sophie! She's training with Zhalia…" Lok growled a bit.  
"Say what?" Sophie walked into the room while holding onto her shoulder. She hurt it a bit while being smacked against the wall.  
"Well, you know, you're girls!" Lok said, not even realizing he set a huge storm in motion.  
"Uh-oh mate, I suggest you to run!" Dante laughed a bit for what Sophie gave him a killer look, so he just stood silent. Tori sat up now.  
"How do you mean we're girls?" she raised her eyebrows.  
"Yeah Lok, how?" Sophie crossed her arms on her chest. The blond boy got a bit confused and he pulled deep into the sofa.  
"Well… I… I… I didn't mean it… I… You girls, I mean…" in that moment Zhalia appeared in the door.  
"Girls, leave the poor boy alone!" Tori and Sophie looked at her and made a face, but nodded. Tori lay back down on the sofa and Sophie sat down on another chair. Lok shot a thankful look to Zhalia who laughed a bit.  
"Well, it's not your fault that you're underestimating the girls, is it?" she asked in a mocking way, Lok winced a bit and smiled in a goofy way, but said nothing. Zhalia now looked at Dante "Our boat is waiting for us. It's pretty fancy if you ask me. What did you tell to Metz?" she raised an eyebrow.  
"Well, I told him we're going to hunt some pirates." He shrugged with a small smile.  
"OK guys, it's time to get on the boat's board." Zhalia announced with a smile and disappeared behind the door again. Sophie and Tori stood up and looked at Lok.  
"You'll so get this back." Tori whispered with a mean smile, Sophie only nodded and they hurried out of the room as well to get their things. Dante smirked at Lok, who was still deep in the sofa.  
"Oh boy, I wouldn't be in your place, believe me…" he laughed a bit and went away as well. Lok gulped. At the moment he looked alike a little scared animal. He jumped up quickly and went to his room to get his bag.  
In 15 minutes they met at the entrance door. Everyone was there; ready to set off to the unknown. Dante locked the doors, turned on the alarm system and they walked to the dock, where a huge boat was waiting for them. It was pretty modern; it looked more like a cruiser than an ordinary boat. When they boarded they were even more amazed. Everything was so fancy; it had a mini bar on the deck, deck chairs, a swimming pool and many more things to have fun with.  
"Whoa, I think this is the best equipment we ever got from the HQ." Zhalia said a bit amazed.  
"Yeah, I absolutely agree with you." Lok said while looking around with opened mouth.  
"Man, this is a dream come true!" Tori cheered a bit.  
"OK guys, let me escort you to your rooms!" Dante laughed at their reaction. He started to walk and his team mates went after him. They soon got to a small hallway full with doors. "The rooms all look the same, so you don't have to fight over them. Everyone will have its own room too." He smiled a bit. "OK, so, 101 is Lok's. 102 is mine, so he wouldn't be so close to the ladies." He laughed a bit in a mocking way. "Then 103 is Zhalia, 104 is Tori and last but not least 105 is Sophie!" he shared the keys. "Remember, we don't know what's waiting for us, be prepared, always!" with that he went into his room. The two younger girls shot a warning look to Lok, Zhalia laughed at that. Lok whined a bit and ran into his room, locking the doors after himself. Zhalia smirked at the girls.  
"Good job, but take it easy on him, he's still too young to die." She laughed again.  
"We wouldn't kill him!" the strawberry blond girl said in an innocent way.  
"No, we would only torture him, have some fun, scare him a bit more and then release him, that's all…" Tori tried to sound innocent, but she totally failed at it. Zhalia laughed again and shook her head.  
"See you later girls!" with that she went into her room. The two younger girls looked at each other and an evil smirk appeared on both of their lips. They giggled a bit and then went into their room.  
Tori closed the door behind her and threw her bag on the floor beside the door. She looked around the room. It was fancy, just as the boat. It had a king sized bed, night stands, a huge coffee table with leather chairs, a huge wardrobe, a fireplace and a huge book shelf.  
"Whoa, this is what I call being rich and wealthy…" she giggled a bit and threw herself on the bed, enjoying its softness.  
Suddenly the air got cold; she could see her own breath in the air. She got up and backed away to a distant corner of the room looking around. Suddenly male figure appeared in front of her. He was tall, he had read hair and red beard.  
"Red Beard, I assume." She muttered under her breath, only now realizing what a bad idea was to back away to a corner, she trapped herself between a ghost pirate and the walls.  
"Aye-aye dearie, it's me, the famous Red Beard, the sea rat!" he laughed with some evilness in his light green eyes.  
"Oh, just great, this is exactly what I needed now, another dead pirate's ghost on my neck…" she said sarcastically.  
"You remind me of your distant relative, Black Beard…" he smirked a bit.  
"Yeah, yeah, I know the story, you don't have to remind me of the drama." She made an annoyed face.  
"I know you know the story, that's not why I'm here. I'm here to get to know my enemy." He winked at her and sat down on a chair, leaving watery foot steps behind himself on the dark and fancy wooden floor.  
"Well, there's not much to know about me, ya know. "She shrugged a bit "_In west Philadelphia born and raised…_" she started to sing the song from one of her favorite series. The pirate gave her a weird look and shook his head.  
"You know, this will be easier than I thought." He grinned slightly.  
"Really? Well, bring it on then!" she challenged him, her tongue working faster than her brain again; the usual problem.  
"You're just like Black Beard used to be; stubborn, challenging and rude." He said on a deep voice, some nostalgia visible in his eyes.  
"Yeah, whatever old man, if you don't mind I'd like to rest, so bye, see ya around the Fountain!" with that she walked to the door, opened it and pointed at the empty hallway. Red Beard stood up and lazily walked over to her, grinning more and more with every step he took. When he reached her he placed a hand on her shoulder. His hand was cold as ice, but what can you expect from a dead man?  
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, dearie, many, and I mean many traps and mysteries lie beneath the blue oceans. With that he pulled out a silver dagger and pushed it deep into her heart. She gasped and tried to scream, but her lungs failed and all the oxygen left her body. She could feel the cold metal in her hot flesh. Red Bear let go of her and she fell on the floor, liters of blood pouring out of her chest. The pirate walked out of the room and disappeared into the thin air. Tori was lying on the floor, helpless, no one around to help her; just as in her deepest fears, alone. Tears started to stream down her face and then finally she felt sleepy, so sleepy; and cold. Sudden darkness fell on her eyes and after than numbness. But then suddenly two firm hands grabbed her and started to shake her.  
"Tori, wake up! Do you hear me? Wake up!" it was a familiar voice; Lok. She opened her eyes and realized she fell asleep on the bed.  
"It was… it was… It was all just a dream!" she said a bit shocked; it all felt so real.  
"Of course it was a dream, and I bet a Hell of a dream, you were screaming like an idiot! You're lucky I came around or you'd end up scratching your eyes out or something similar!" he said with some worry audible in his voice.  
"Well… thank you… for waking me…" she said in a bit tired way and sat up slowly.  
"What were you dreaming of?" asked the boy who was standing beside Tori's bed.  
"Nothing, it was only a bad dream." She forced a smile on her lips.  
"Lies… again." He shook his head "I really don't get you, you know you have someone to rely on and you're still silent." He said a bit angrily now, in that moment Zhalia appeared in the doorway.  
"Leave the girl alone, she has to adjust first." She said on a calm, but a bit strict voice. Lok snapped up his head because he didn't hear her coming. He didn't turn around, but looked at Tori with a meaningful look, which could mean 'This is not over!'. He turned around and hurried away. Tori smiled at Zhalia a bit.  
"Thanks, at least someone understands me… kinda." Zhalia laughed a bit.  
"Oh, believe me, I understand you more than you can imagine. Anyways, I came here to let you know that we're close to our first destination. You should probably get on the deck, so we could break the barrio which is defending the first key." She smiled kindly at her. Tori nodded, thanking her for the information, Zhalia returned the favor and disappeared behind the wall. Tori now looked on her shirt, not a drop of blood was visible. She looked around the room and everything seemed to be normal. She sighed a bit.  
"Well yeah, why not? I mean a fucking nightmare was the only thing I was missing… really." She muttered a bit annoyed and stood up. She was barefoot, which was interesting, because she didn't remember taking off her shoes. Suddenly something cold was under her feat. As she looked down she noticed a puddle of water under her. She got cold and probably pale as she looked around the floor and noticed watery footsteps everywhere. She shook her head madly to scare the sight away; she thought it was only an illusion. She took on her slippers and ran out on the deck.  
"Lok!" she almost screamed "Lok where the Hell are you when I need you?" she called him desperately.  
"When you need him? Hmm, this sounds so wrong…" Sophie said in a cheeky way. Tori shot her a warning look.  
"Not now Blondie." she answered simply and went on with the looking, leaving Sophie alone.  
"I'm not blond at all! It's strawberry blond!" yelled the younger girl after Tori, who didn't care much at the moment. She ran to the front of the boat, where she finally found Lok, who was staring at the water in front of him.  
"Finally! I've been looking for you everywhere!" she almost screamed again when she finally found him. He jumped a bit from the surprise.  
"Well now you found me, what's up?" he asked with curiosity in his voice.  
"I think I'm ready to talk… Actually I really need someone to talk to…" she admitted while getting pale again at the memory of the bad dream, which maybe wasn't even a dream.  
"Well, I'm listening…" Lok answered, now paying full attention to her. Suddenly Dante appeared behind them.  
"Guys, we're here, Sicily. The hidden cave should be somewhere there." He pointed at the part of the shore. Lok gave him an annoyed look. "What?" Dante formed the words with his lips. Lok only shook his head and looked back at Tori, who now reached into the pocket of her pants and took out the amulet of Watercrusher, which was glowing bright blue. She was staring at the shore and noticed a blue light; it was almost the same shade as the amulet at the moment.  
"Could that be the entrance?" she asked from her mentor, who nodded.  
"Probably, but we'll be sure after we checked it." He answered shortly and ran away again, disappearing behind a huge door. Tori put away the amulet and laughed a bit.  
"You know, I imagined this a bit differently. In my imagination it looked all fancy, fireworks, explosions and lights, but all I get is a tiny little light." She laughed again.  
"Sometimes a tiny little light is enough to lead us to the place we want to go." He answered silently and with a mysterious smile "So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked getting curious again. Tori smiled a bit, more to herself than at him.  
"Well, it's not important, it can wait… lets enjoy the view while we can, shall we?" she smiled a bit wider now, enjoying the sun rays on her skin. She closed her eyes and relaxed. After the dream in her room she wasn't sure how long will she be able to enjoy the sunlight, or the wind, or anything else. Right here and right now she wanted to enjoy in the moment while she could.

* * *

**So, what do you think? Was the waiting worth it? What do you think of this chapter? Do you like it, do you hate it or is it so-so? Oh, and one more thing! I would like to hear your opinion about a Halloween edition story about your favorite Huntik characters (we can talk about Sophie, I know not all of you sympathies her XD) , aaand would you like to have Tori in that story? I'm waiting for your reviews! Love you all! xx **


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